The massive EF-4 tornado that killed 19 people in Kentucky last Friday tore through three counties leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. According to the National Weather Service (NWS) in Jackson,

Additionally, there was no evidence that tornado sirens in the area had been deactivated by the Trump administration's budget cuts — if there was, the people affected by the storm certainly would have noted that fact in interviews.

The Jackson, Kentucky, weather service office recently cut overnight staff but meteorologists were called in to handle the deadly tornado outbreak.

One week after a deadly EF-4 tornado hit Russell, Pulaski, and Laurel counties, the National Weather Service has updated the storm’s path.

A deadly severe weather outbreak spawned at least one tornado in 22 states from May 15-21. Among the hardest-hit states were Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.

The Jackson, Kentucky, office is one of at least four such facilities across the country that is so short-staffed that it is no longer routinely operating 24/7.

LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear says President Donald Trump has approved six counties for individual assistance after tornadoes moved through the state. "Thank you to the president and Sec. Kristi Noem for this support, which is essential to helping families affected rebuild," Beshear said in a social media post.

Gov. Andy Beshear praised the Trump administration’s response to a deadly tornado in his state, even as he worried about cuts at NWS.

Did alerts go out? What type of alerts did people receive? National Weather Service and others have said the Jackson office was staffed Friday night despite staffing shortages.

When the skies darkened over Laurel County on May 16, the Wilson family didn’t run home. They ran cold. Literally. With a deadly tornado bearing down, Charlotte Wilson and her partner, Dustin, gathered with their family and about two dozen others in the Shell store’s walk-in cooler.